Near-optimum procedure for half-life measurement by high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy

Abstract

A near-optimum procedure for using high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy to measure the half-lives of appropriate gamma-ray-emitting nuclides is presented. It is appropriate for measuring half-lives in the range from a few hours to approximately one year. Among the important points of the procedure are the employment of the reference source method for implicit correction of pileup and deadtime losses, the use of full-energy peak-area ratios as the fundamental measured quantities, and continuous, high-rate data acquisition to obtain good results in a fraction of a half-life if desired. Equations are given for estimating the precision of the computed half-lives in terms of total measurement time, number of spectral acquisitions, and the precision of peak-area ratios. Results of 169Yb half-life measurements are given as an example of the application of the procedure.